Anthony Karakatsanis, P.Eng., B.E.Sc.
President and Chief Executive Officer – Board of Directors
Anthony has been part of the Morrison Hershfield family for almost 3 decades, joining in 1989 as a Project Manager. Since then, he held numerous leadership positions in both our vertical and horizontal practice groups before being appointed President and Chief Executive Officer. Anthony is a graduate of Western University with a Bachelor of Engineering Science. He has contributed to numerous industry organizations and committees, and is a member of Consulting Engineers Ontario Business Risk Committee. In his capacity as President & CEO, Anthony is responsible for ensuring that Morrison Hershfield is continually providing innovative and valued solutions for our clients and the communities we serve. As he leads the firm toward its long-term mission of being the first call for engineering solutions that make a difference, Anthony will continue to safeguard our unique culture and Core Values & Principles, providing the stewardship for Morrison Hershfield to remain a sustainable, employee-owned, leading North American engineering firm for many years to come.
Catherine Karakatsanis, P.Eng., M.E.Sc., FEC, FCAE
Chief Operating Officer – Board of Directors
Catherine joined Morrison Hershfield as a structural engineer and her career progressed as she successfully moved through a series of roles gaining extensive engineering and management experience. As COO, she is responsible for domestic and international operations providing business leadership and engaging staff to leverage their collective strengths. She currently sits on Western University’s Board of Governors. She has consistently been recognized for her business and engineering contributions including receiving Canada’s highest engineering distinction for exceptional individual achievement – the prestigious ‘Gold Medal Award’ from Engineers Canada; having been inducted as a Fellow in to the Canadian Academy of Engineering; awarded the ‘Gold Medal’, the ‘Engineering Medal of Management’ and the rank of ‘Companion’ by Professional Engineers Ontario; has been named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 in four different categories and was inducted into the WXN Hall of Fame in 2016; and was awarded Ontario Women’s Directorate – ‘Leading Women Building Communities Award’, among others. Catherine has also held professional leadership volunteer roles including serving as President and Chair of Engineers Canada, representing the 250,000 Professional Engineers in Canada and as a Director for the Board of Engineers Without Boarders. Ms. Karakatsanis obtained a Bachelor of Engineering Science and Masters of Engineering Science at Western University.
Kevin Chouinard, P.Eng.
Senior Vice President, Building Specialty Services – Board of Directors
Kevin joined Morrison Hershfield in 1989 as a project Engineer in our Buildings group. In his capacity as Senior Vice President, Kevin oversees our consulting practice focused on Specialty Services in Buildings, including building science and energy modeling, building envelope consulting and façade engineering, code, life safety and security consulting and sustainability. He is a graduate of the University of Waterloo (undergraduate) and Queen’s University (masters).
Jon McCarthy, P.E., MBA
Senior Vice President, Integrated Engineering Design – Board of Directors
Jon joined Morrison Hershfield in 2005 as the Vice President of our U.S. practice. Today, Jon oversees our business unit working on telecommunications, mission critical facilities and the integrated engineering design of buildings in both the U.S. and Canada. Jon is a graduate of the University of Missouri – Columbia (undergraduate) and Jacksonville University (masters).
Rob Selby, Ph.D., P.Eng., P.E.
Senior Vice President, Community Infrastructure & Environment – Board of Directors
Robert joined Morrison Hershfield in 1994 as a Structural Engineer. Today, he oversees our Land Development, Water & Wastewater, Transit, Environmental, and Project Management services practice areas. Robert holds multiple degrees from both the University of Alberta and the University of Toronto. In 1999, Robert was awarded the American Concrete Institute’s Structural Engineering Award for a paper he co-authored which described analytical investigations into the failure of a concrete offshore platform.
Jim Weir, P.Eng.
Senior Vice President, Transportation & Structures
Jim joined the firm in 1997 as a Transportation Engineer working on Morrison Hershfield’s first large project for the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO). The great work completed on this project led to Morrison Hershfield becoming a trusted, and “go to” provider of Engineering Services to MTO that continues to this day. As the leader of our Transportation business, Jim oversees our teams working on roads, highways and bridges. Jim is a graduate of the University of Ottawa. He has over 25 years experience leading design teams on highly complex transportation projects.
David Pavey, CPA, CA, HBA
Chief Financial Officer & Senior Vice President
David joined Morrison Hershfield in 2006 as Vice President, Finance & Corporate Services. As Chief Financial Officer, David leads a team of experts who provide financial, IT&S and facilities management support services to our growing multi-national consulting engineering firm. David’s financial and general management experience spans professional services, retail, distribution, technology and education industry sectors. David is a graduate of The University of Western Ontario – Richard Ivey School of Business.
Pelly Shafto
Vice President, Human Resources, Organizational Development and Safety
Pelly joined Morrison Hershfield in 2006. Pelly brings international experience from a variety of industries with a focus on enhancing business performance through the creation and implementation of strategy, change management, integrated HR practice, talent development, and progressive organizational practice that results in improved business performance. Pelly is a graduate of the University of Toronto.
Scott R. Steiding
Vice President, Corporate Marketing and Sales
As the leader of Corporate Marketing and Sales, Scott manages market and client feedback mechanisms in Canada and the U.S. to ensure the smart growth goals of the organization are met. He leads our efforts to secure the best projects, from the best clients, so we can hire and retain the best people in Canada and the U.S. Scott joined Morrison Hershfield as a Project Manager in our Calgary office in 2001. Over the years, he has held a number of operational positions managing telecommunications and data center infrastructure projects. Scott successfully led business development in our U.S. business during the challenging years of the great recession. Prior to joining Morrison Hershfield, he worked as a telecommunications professional in four countries and is a graduate of Alma College.
Robert Forbes, LL.B., LL.M.
Board Chair and Independent Director
Robert Forbes has rejoined the Board as of January 2018. He originally served on the Board from January 2009 to January 2015, acting as Chair from 2011 to 2015. Robert E. Forbes is a partner at Miller Thomson LLP in Toronto. His practice is focused on finance, securities regulation and mergers and acquisitions matters with particular reference to mergers and acquisitions in regulated industries and private equity transactions. He acts for Canadian banks, insurance companies, pension funds and other financial institutions in relation to their financing and acquisition activities, both international and domestic. He received his B.A. (Economics) and his LL.B. from the University of Western Ontario. He received his LL.M. from London School of Economics in England and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1977. Mr. Forbes is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University and the co-author of a number of books including Canadian Business Organizations Law.
Nancy Longueira, M.A.Sc., P.Eng.
Building Science Practice Lead, Facility Assessment – Board of Directors
Nancy joined Morrison Hershfield in 1995 in the Building Science group. Nancy’s project focus has been on conducting field assessments and managing condition assessment projects for capital planning, due diligence and asset management projects for large and varied real estate portfolios in both the private and public sectors. She has held multiple leadership positions at Morrison Hershfield including manager of the Building Science department in Toronto, Technical Lead for the Spray Foam Quality Assurance Program, and Technical Director for Facility Assessments where she was responsible for development of processes and templates for various condition assessment services to promote consistency across the offices. She has served as Secretary on the ULC Spray Polyurethane Foam Task Group and presented numerous technical seminars to industry groups covering various topics including mold in buildings, reserve fund studies and condition assessments. Nancy’s experience is commonly sought by Morrison Hershfield staff in our Canadian and US offices when conducting property condition assessments, particularly for large portfolios or clients with unique requirements. Nancy has recently assumed the role of leader for the Communities of Practice.
Raymond Mantha, P.Eng., F.E.C.
Independent Director
Ray Mantha has had a distinguished career as an engineer. Ray assumed the role of ADM Mines and Minerals Division at the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines in October 2010 until May 2012. In that role he supported responsible land use management and mineral resource development through the administration of the Mining Act and the provision of public geoscience information. Prior to that, he was with the Ontario Ministry of Transportation for 32 years serving as its Chief Engineer and Provincial Highways Management Executive Director, having responsibility for a broad range of policies, standards and investment strategies for Ontario’s roadways. Beginning in 2005, Ray led the bi-national effort to implement all transportation initiatives at the Windsor Gateway, including the new Windsor-Detroit crossing and the Windsor/Essex gateway projects. Ray recently completed his term as the President of the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC).
Sophie Mercier, P.Eng.
Vice President of Building Science West – Board of Directors
Sophie joined Morrison Hershfield in 1998 and has been a Principal of the firm since 2006. She currently serves as VP of Building Science West, leading over 100 building science consultants and professionals in Canada and in in the US. In her management role she dedicates time to important initiatives such as promoting innovation, creating and delivering training that aims to elevate the group’s management and leading skills, and finding ways to increase efficiency through evaluation of systems and processes. She is also an engineer specializing in building enclosures and a leading figure when it comes to thermal performance of envelope assemblies and their integration within the whole building energy performance.
Robert Petersen, P.Eng.
Independent Director
Bob Petersen retired from TRC Corporation in 2013. He was hired as the Senior Vice President in 2006 where he led the turnaround team with assignments to rationalize the troubled operations of the company. He then functioned in a variety of Regional and National operations roles before eventually assuming leadership as COO reporting to the CEO and to the Board. Prior to TRC he founded and was the sole proprietor of The North Shore Group which was a management consulting business focused on sales strategies and targeted Key Client Account programs. Bob also spent 10 years at ENSR Corporation as President and CEO. Bob has Masters degrees in Chemical Engineering, Engineering Management and Executive Management.